Twitter is 'the Yahoo of social media': Analyst

As Twitter plunges after its earnings report, one analyst is cutting his price target on the stock as he draws a grim parallel between the social media outfit and a notoriously tattered tech company.

Twitter is "the Yahoo of social media," Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter proclaimed in a Wednesday note, days after Verizon announced an acquisition of Yahoo's operating business for a fraction of what the internet pioneer was worth at its peak.

Twitter, like Yahoo, has allowed itself to stagnate, said Pachter.

"Management appears complacent about the status quo and unfocused on the lack of user growth," the analyst wrote. "Until Twitter is focused on attracting new users, driving increased use by its existing users, and demonstrating its value proposition to people who don't use the service, we expect it to grow very slowly."

Even worse, "its service is too complicated and difficult to use for the average Internet user despite multiple changes."

After a beat on earnings, a miss on revenue, weak guidance and flattish monthly active users, Pachter reduced his price target on the stock to $14 from $20. On Wednesday, Twitter fell below $16 per share.

He wasn't the only analyst cutting expectations. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali reduced his rating on the stock to hold from buy, and his price target to $18 from $23, based on his anticipation that it "reigniting growth is likely to take longer," as the company loses share to Facebook and to Alphabet's Google.

“The report of my death is greatly exaggerated,” Mark Twain wrote to a newspaper when it was inaccurately reported he’d died. A similar sentiment exists among some market participants today as mega-cap technology stocks have soared.

Nvidia shares have had an unusually good year, rising 32 percent versus an 8 percent gain in the semi-tracking SMH ETF. Ahead of the Nvidia’s quarterly earnings on Thursday, options traders are predicting some unusual behavior.

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Sara Eisen joined CNBC in December 2013 as a correspondent, focusing on the global consumer. She is co-anchor of the 10AM ET hour of CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" (M-F, 9AM-11AM ET), broadcast from Post 9 at the New York Stock Exchange.

In March 2018, Eisen was named co-anchor of CNBC's "Power Lunch" (M-F, 1PM-3PM ET), which broadcasts from CNBC Global Headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.